Did you see: The Affordable Care Act in your state

March 5, 2012

New Affordable Care Act numbers released this morning take a look at how the law is helping Americans in each state. The White House blog tells the story of Amy from Iowa, whose recent medical emergency could have cost her millions of dollars:

Without the Affordable Care Act, Amy and her husband may not have been able to afford all the care she needed to recover. Before the new health reform law, Amy’s health insurance policy had a lifetime dollar limit of $1 million. While it sounds like a lot, Amy’s expenses exceeded that amount within months.

Lifetime limits used to be common—in 2009, nearly 60 percent of employer-sponsored plans and 89 percent of individually purchased coverage had them.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, Amy is one of 105 million Americans—and nearly 1.2 million Iowans—with private health insurance who no longer will face lifetime limits on their care. You can read the Department of Health and Human Services’ latest research on the number of people who no longer have a lifetime limit on their insurance plan here.